Baptist Health locations in Paducah and Madisonville are moving forward with plans for extended-stay hospitals inside their existing facilities.
These long-term acute care hospitals treat critical patients that need more recovery time than others.
Baptist Health Paducah Spokeswoman Dona Rains says the LTACH facilities should help patients who would normally have to travel across the state or farther for treatment.
“They’re too ill to be discharged from the hospital to a nursing home or rehab facility," Rains said. "So, they need this bridge to get them from perhaps the intensive care unit at a hospital before they’re ready to go to that next level of care.”
The project has been in the works for about a year and will begin a six-month trial run in June.
Baptist Health is partnering with nonprofit Texas-based ContinueCare Hospital to operate the new facilities. They'll hire staff for both locations.
Rains says she hopes for full licensure and operation at both facilities by early next year. Baptist Health projects the venture could create 90 full-time jobs and bring in nearly $6 million in salaries and benefits.